月子 Child of the Moon
by Laura's court
Summary: UNDER RECONSTRUCTION!
1. On a moonlit night

This couldn't be happening. This was just a nightmare, a really strange, random nightmare. There were no ANBU at my house. I was in bed, sleeping. Any minute I would wake up to the smell of my mom's cooking. One of the four shinobi took a step forward while I took a step back. A thousand thoughts were buzzing around in my head, questions really. The number one that seemed to be the loudest because it was the first thing I said. My parents were sitting on the couch. They wouldn't look at me. They didn't say everything would be all right. They wouldn't raise their heads to me. Of all the times I complained about how I wasn't a child anymore, now was the perfect time for them to be my parents and protect and comfort their child. I wanted to be a child again.

"Why are you here?"

All four of them had masks to cover their faces. I just sat there not daring to make a move. My mother looked up at the one closest to her as he turned toward me. Well, I assumed it was a man, what with his low pitch voice.

"Tsukiko, we're part of Konoha's ANBU force," he said. "Do you know what that is?"

"Yes, and elite group of ninja who's identities are always kept secret." I didn't look at him. I remained focused on my parents until he said something that pulled my attention away from them.

"Why are we here? We're here for you," he said. I looked up at him.

"Why me?"

"Ask your parents that, they know."

"Know what?" I looked at them again. Only my dad came to meet my gaze.

"Tsukiko, I'm sorry, this wasn't supposed to happen."

"What wasn't supposed to happen? Dad?"

"Don't call me that!" I was a little startled. "Don't... call me that... I-I don't deserve that title... I... I'm not your father, Tsukiko..." I took a step back. What did any of this have to do with why these shinobi being here?

"What does that have to do with anything? What's going on?"

"Tsukiko-chan," said the leader of the team. "You're blind in one eye right?" I looked up at him. If I could see his face, I'm sure I'd see a smirk.

"Yes," I said, curious as to where he was going with this.

"Really, then Yoshikawa-san," he turned to my dad. "How many ANBU do you see in this room?"

"One, you," he said. My eyes widened.

"Is there something wrong Tsukiko?"

"There's four," I said. "There's one over there," I pointed at the wall to my left, "and two over there," I pointed over at the vase.

"They're in hiding," he said. "Only two kinds of people could see that, the Hyuuga with their Byakugan, and the Uchiha with their Sharingan."

"Tsukiko," said my father. "You're part Uchiha, part Hyuuga."

"But, I'm really blind in my right eye!" I cried out. I covered my left eye and at first everything was black, but the I started seeing blue lights in my right eye. I immediately uncovered my left eye to see again.

"Supposedly, you're father was one of the Uchiha."

"No, I'm not an Uchiha and I'm not a Hyuuga!" I shouted. "My name is Yoshikawa Tsukiko."

"Do not make this any harder then this has to be."

"You're the ones making this hard!" I cried. "It's my fourteenth birthday! This isn't what I wanted for my birthday!"

"We're taking you to Konoha to train you."

"Why?" I felt tears running down my face. This was all happening too fast. "It's not like I'm a danger to you."

"I'm sorry," said another ANBU, "but you're a rare case. Never before has Hyuuga and Uchiha blood been mixed so having you to fight for us would be a huge benefit to all of Konoha."

"Not to mention how much danger you would be in if any other countries found out about this."

"What if I'm weaker then you expected?" I asked.

"Then we'll just make you stronger, not just for Konoha's sake, but your's as well."

I wanted them all to go away, disappear. I wanted to wake up to find that this was a dream. This was all just a dream. I wasn't a Hyuuga or an Uchiha. I was just plain Yoshikawa Tsukiko.

"This isn't happening," I sobbed as I fell to my knees. The shinobi who had spoken kindly to me crouched beside me. Her mask hiding her face, but her voice was filled with compassion.

"Come, your training starts tomorrow." I nodded meekly, there was no fighting this. "We'll give you some time to say good-bye to them."

On my fourteenth birthday, I went from being an ordinary girl with no ties to the ninja world, to a full blown ANBU trainee.

* * *

_Five years later..._

"Phoenix, do you see him?"

"I do. His ten meters to your ten o'clock," I replied into the radio. My face was sweaty from the heat of my mask. "You'll be approaching him from behind. I'll let you know if he moves."

"Roger!"

"Tiger, don't get carried away, okay? Remember what happen last time," I heard another voice speak up. Suddenly I heard something behind me. To a normal ear, nothing would have been heard, but I had mine specially trained and in just five years. I had already seen him sneak up on me. I was just giving him the benefit of the doubt.

However, when I saw him pull out a shuriken, I quickly and carefully pulled out a kunai and a shuriken of my own. I saw it come whistling through the air in my direction. I blocked it with my kunai and sent my shuriken in his direction. I made a hand sign and the one shuriken became many.

They didn't hit their mark, and a voice spoke through the radio.

"All right, good job, we'll end training early today." When I had first started out, this would have been my cue to jump for joy, but I had learned to have more restrain then that.

"Phoenix," my ANBU code name. My mask was that of a bird, "you've gotten better, but you're still not at the level we need you to be." He was referring to my Sharingan. However, I still questioned as to what level I needed to be at, though I had a pretty good idea.

After training, I found myself wandering the streets of Konoha. Since I had started training at such a late age, they allowed me to wander around as a civilian. Any sign of betraying Konoha information would mean my untimely death, but I knew better. They wouldn't kill me. I was too valuable. Otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered to hunt me down.

After walking around the village for some time, I felt a little hungry and found a nice little ramen restaurant. I stepped inside and sat down. The man approached me with a smile on his face.

"Hello, how may I help you?" he asked. I looked at the menu.

"I'll just have oriental please," I said. As he started cooking it, another customer came in. He was wearing a bright orange jump suit and had bright yellow hair. He had strikingly blue eyes, and the headband wrapped around his forehead told me he was a Konoha shinobi, probably a genin.

"Hey, mister, can I have the usual?" he shouted, my sensitive ears ringing.

"Sure thing Naruto," replied the man. Apparently the boy was a frequent customer. I felt a pair of eyes on me. I looked over at him, and he looked away since he had been caught staring.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Your eyes," he said. "Why are they like that?" He was referring to my having one eye black and the other bright blue. I smiled.

"I'm blind in my right eye," I sort of lied. I was no longer blind in that eye.

"Oh," he said. I could tell he wanted to say something more, by the way he kept glancing at me.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"You're pretty," he said, a soft blush creeping across his face. I smiled. He was so adorable.

"Why thank you!" I exclaimed as our food was handed to us. "You're pretty handsome yourself. I'm sure the girls fawn over you."

"No," he said as he loudly slurped his noodles. I carefully started to eat mine. Neither of us said much else for the rest of the night. When it came time to leave, I handed him my money, being sure to leave a tip. I watched as Naruto began digging in his pockets.

"Now where is that coupon," he muttered. I noticed a tiny slip of paper sticking out from underneath his head band. I cleared my throat, and he looked at me. I gently tapped my forehead, trying to clue him in as to where it was.

"What?" his hand went to his protector and his eyes lit up with realization. "Oh, I had forgotten I had put it there. Thanks miss."

"Tsukiko," I said.

"Tsukiko!" he repeated. "I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage!"

"Pleased to meet you, Naruto-kun," I replied with a smile. He handed his coupon and the money to the man. Then he looked at me and blushed as he started fidgeting.

"Something wrong Naruto-kun?" I asked. His blush went brighter as he opened his mouth.

"C-can I w-walk you home?" he asked. _Aw, how sweet!_ I couldn't possibly turn him down.

"Of course you may," I replied. His smile was so bright; I'm sure if I really were blind I'd have been able to see it. We stepped out of the restaurant.

"I live this way."

"Really?!" he cried, "Me too!"

"Do you live at the apartment complex?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"So do I!"

"Cool! What room number?"

"502."

"Seriously? I live just a few rooms down, room 506!"

The whole way, we chatted about different things. Naruto did most of the talking. Telling me about how the third part of his chuunin exam was coming up and who he was against.

"Hyuuga Neji?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's my opponent," he said. "Everyone says he's strong, but after what he did to Hinata, I can't afford to lose!" He was so passionate about it. He had become a ninja because he wanted to be recognized by the village, while I had been forced into it because of my strange abilities.

"Well, I'll be rooting for you," I said. Naruto looked up at me; his big blue eyes shining at me. It made me giggle inwardly. He was just so adorable.

"Thanks Tsukiko! That means a lot!" he said. Then he got all nervous again as we stood in front of my door.

"What is it?"

"Um... can I call you Tsuki-chan?" I nearly busted out laughing. No one had ever called me that, not even my parents. It was so adorable, and hearing him say it just made me want laugh.

"Sure, Naruto-kun," I said. "Good night."

"Good night Tsuki-chan!" he called as he ran off towards his apartment. I smiled as I watched him run off. I took out my key to my apartment and stepped inside with a sigh. I had been living in this apartment for five years and had not once bothered to see who my neighbors were. Not that I ever had the time. If I wasn't training, I was eating and sleeping. Never had much time for any social events. I was okay with that though, I didn't want to be reminded of the past that I used to have, a normal life with normal parents and no ties to the ninja world.

I landed on my bed with a thud and gripped my pillow tightly. Tomorrow would probably be the same.

* * *

I awoke an hour before dawn to get an early start on my training. Before I could make it to the training grounds, however, another ANBU member stopped me.

"Hokage has called for a meeting of all the ANBU."

"Hai," I replied, quickly changing course.

We quickly came to the rooftop of the Hokage building. Where the Sandaime stood waiting for all of us. As soon as all of us were present, he spoke.

"We have received word of a possible invasion during the chuunin exams," he said. "This means that I need all of you to be on your guard, especially when the Uchiha starts to fight."

_Uchiha..._

"Phoenix," he was addressing me.

"Hai!"

"You will need to be on your guard as well. There's a possibility that they know of your heritage, so they might come after you as well."

"Hai," I answered.

"Plans will be discussed within individual teams. Your captains have been given instructions. Dismissed."

With that, all of us took off. We all knew the basic strategy for an invasion, but to be safe, they had us review it.

"All right so everyone knows where their to be stationed?"

"Hai!"

"All right, Phoenix, no matter what, do not take off your mask with either of your eyes activated." I nodded. My heritage had to remain a secret. The Sharingan I had to learn how to use on my own, but the Byakugan, there were a couple of Hyuuga's within the ANBU ranks. They were sworn to secrecy when they taught me.

With all that said and done, we began our rigorous training. We trained far harder now then we did before since we only had a month before the final part of the Chuunin exams.

* * *

I was on my home late at night when I passed by the ramen shop where I had met Naruto. I landed on the rooftop of the building across the street when I saw him come out. He seemed a little depressed about something, and I assumed it was the upcoming exam that had him worried. I felt a little tug on my heart that wanted me to talk to him, but I needed to get home. I was tired from training and had a few scrapes to clean up. So I jumped on, ignoring the nagging sensation to return and talk to him.

I got home and immediately took off my ANBU garb and put it away. I had just finished cleaning myself up when I heard a feint knock on the door. Curious, I opened up to find an orange jumpsuit waiting for me. He seemed a little surprised that I had answered.

"Hey, Naruto-kun," I said cheerfully. His face seemed frozen in a surprised expression.

"Uh... I didn't think you were actually home," he said.

"Well, it is pretty late out, what do you need?"

"I was just wondering why you weren't at the ramen shop."

"Oh, I had to work late today," I replied. "Thanks for your concern."

"Can we hang out tomorrow?" he asked. I smiled at him. He obviously had a little crush on me, and I, quite honestly, enjoyed the attention. After five years of being invisible, I felt I deserved this attention, at least until the Chuunin exams.

**

* * *

**

Well, I can't say I know where to go with this, but if you all want, which some of you might not even care (which makes me sad), I will continue. For now, please review. First reviewer gets ten cookies, second gets five, third get three, fourth gets one! Okay?!

**Helpful criticism will be welcomed with open arms! Flames will be shot down, and questions will be answered (depending on the questions).**


	2. You made a promise right?

Naruto was waiting for me when I came out of my apartment. I thanked my lucky stars that today was my scheduled off day. On such a high alert, no one would get a day off, but this one had been previously scheduled so, I had nothing to worry about.

"Hey, I found a really strong sensei the other day, but I'm not sure you want to meet him. He's a bit of a pervert," said Naruto as we walked down the street. "Well, actually, he's really a super pervert. You know those _Icha Icha _books?"

"You mean the porn books? Yes, unfortunately I have, some of my colleagues read them." Not that that I was going to mention any names. *cough*Kakashi*cough*

"He writes those," he said.

"Your teacher is Jiraiya-sama?" I cried.

"Yeah, that's him. Though I prefer to call him Ero-senin."

"Yeah, that fits him," I laughed. Naruto laughed with me. To meet one of the legendary Sanin, I was quite excited.

"I'm meeting him in here," said Naruto when we got to the bath houses. "Maybe I can convince him to come meet you."

"Just mention I'm a woman and he'll come running without you," I joked. I didn't think that was what would actually happen. Before I knew it, this older looking man was out of the building standing right in front of me. Naruto had been left in the dust.

"I hear you wanted to meet me," he said. "I'm the legendary toad sage, Jiraiya-sama."

"My name is Tsukiko, pleased to meet you," I responded politely with a bow. I thanked my lucky stars again that I decided to wear a short sleeved turtle neck. Judging my the way he was looking at me, I thanked the gods, the spirits, anyone who was listening to my little prayer.

"Hey! You could've waited for me to introduce you to her! Ero-senin!" shouted Naruto. I laughed at Naruto's nickname for the mighty Jiraiya-sama.

"I thought I told you not to call me that?" shouted Jiraiya.

"What's wrong with calling you what you are?!" Naruto shouted back. I laughed at their antics. It was obvious they already liked each other.

"What's so funny?" asked Naruto.

"Oh, nothing," I replied before motioning for Jiraiya to come closer.

"You do realize that having a kid around you like that would totally attract chicks?" I said.

"Eh?"

"If you know women as well as you say you do, women love guys with kids." He nodded. An evil grin plastered across his face. Naruto frowned.

"I don't know what you just told him, but Tsuki-chan, don't encourage him!" shouted Naruto. I laughed again.

"Well, since Naruto wants you to watch him train with me, looks like we'll have to go to a different location," said Jiraiya. I almost thought I saw an evil glimpse in his eye.

His next move confirmed my suspicions and I absolutely hated the fact that I couldn't tell them I was a ninja.

He picked me up—without asking—and took off with Naruto on his tail screaming about how they could just walk to the location.

When we got there, he put me down, and I had every right to punch right then and there, but I had never been treated like that before so it just kind of stunned me.

"Ero-senin! You didn't even bother to ask her first! You pervert!"

"Um... I'm going to go sit down over there and watch," I said as I found the log and sat on it. With that said, Naruto's training began.

* * *

After several hours of watching Naruto walk on water and create clones to fight with, I let out a yawn. Needless to say I was getting bored, and I was itching to do some real fighting.

I wonder if Jiraiya sensed this, because the question he asked me surprised me.

"You wouldn't happen to be a ninja would you?" My eyes widened.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"You're built for it," he said. Naruto had heard us.

"You're a ninja Tsuki-chan?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm not a very good one," I lied. I was only at ANBU level, after all.

"I want to fight Tsuki-chan," said Naruto. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you!"

"It'll help with both your training," said Jiraiya. I stood up and nodded. Seeing that Naruto could pull off a Jounin level technique, maybe it could help with my control.

He made three clones who came at me at full speed. I dodged their kicks and their punches with ease. I landed a punch or two leaving me with just one who punched me in the right cheek. I quickly retaliated by using that momentum to spin around and knock him off his feet. Then I felt Naruto jump onto me. He had created more clones, and they were ready to fight.

Until I had turned into Naruto.

I watched them stare in confusion but they weren't fooled.

"Ha! Kakashi-sensei already pulled that one on me!" he shouted. Perhaps he wasn't as dumb as he let on.

I jumped down from the tree I was in.

"I thought you said you weren't a good ninja?" he said.

"I'm not," I said. "I just used the basics, don't tell me you don't know them." So much for my original thoughts.

"Hey!"

All of his clones came at me. I pretended to take a beating while managing to take out a few of his clones. After a few minutes, Jiraiya finally spoke up.

"All right that's enough," he said. "Naruto, let me go ahead and teach you that technique."

* * *

The month seemed to fly by for me. With the same old schedule of training, eating, and sleeping; the occasional chat with Naruto. Today was the day of the chuunin exams. I wasn't sure whether to be excited for Naruto's battle, or worried that something bad might happen. I was getting into my ANBU garb when one of my teammates came into my home.

"Hokage is worried," he said. I noticed his voice was different from before. "He's asked me to tell you to remain hidden among the civilians."

I wasn't sure what to do. It didn't sound like something the Hokage would say, but I decided to go a long with it.

"All right," I said. He disappeared in a puff of smoke. I took out a back pack and stuffed my mask into it and wore my armor under my clothes. I wasn't about to take any chances. I threw my bag over my shoulder and stepped out.

"Tsuki-chan!" cried a familiar voice as I locked the door to my room. Naruto came running toward me with that ever present grin plastered across his face.

"Hey Naruto!" I replied. "You excited?" His grin faded.

"Actually, I'm a little bit nervous," said Naruto. I smiled slightly. "I made a promise to beat Neji, but I hear how strong he is. I'm not sure I can win."

"You made a promise right?"

"Then as a Konoha nin, no matter how strong your opponent is, you have a duty to yourself to keep to that promise," I said.

"Yeah, but what if I lose?"

"As long as you have the will to stand up every time you fall down or get pushed down, you have the strength to take anyone down," I said.

"Okay, that sounded really corny."

"Yeah it did!"

"But it did make me feel better, thanks Tsuki-chan!" he said. His grin reappeared in all its glory. "So you going to watch me?"

"Of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" I said. We chatted all the way to the tournament where we had to go our separate ways. I found a seat pretty quickly and managed to blend in with the rest of the crowd.

Sitting right in front of me, almost as if by coincidence, Hiashi-sama of the Hyuuga clan, my uncle and his youngest daughter, Hanabi were waiting patiently for the first match to begin. The Hokage made his announcement, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something. My teammate was standing not too far away my cousin, Hyuuga Hinata. I kept a close watch on him, since he wasn't supposed to be there. I looked back down at the field to see Naruto and Neji facing each other ready to fight.

"Go Naruto!" I shouted. I knew that he was facing off with my cousin, but that didn't matter. I wanted Naruto to know that I was rooting for him.

I felt a shiver run down my spinal cord. Someone here was planning to kill me. It was well hidden but after five years of brutal training and deadly missions, I had learned to pick up even the most subtle of emotions.

Plus, I had a kekkei genkai that I had discovered three years ago. It came as a result from being half Uchiha and half Hyuuga.

It had nothing to do with eyes...

I didn't want to move from my seat, but I could feel someone's eyes baring down on me. I brushed it off as paranoia, and I watched Naruto's fight carefully. Neji surprised my too. He had been able to learn things that only the main house knew on his own. Naruto's strength to get up, though, was far more impressive then anything the Hyuuga had taught himself. It came as no real surprise to me, the Neji was able to do that, since he had already been labeled as a genius. Naruto was amazing, truly.

"When I become Hokage, I'll change the Hyuuga!"

Naruto's words were ringing in my ears. Maybe he could change the Hyuuga enough to get me accepted, even though I was only part of their clan. I took a deep breath and realized that those eyes, whoever they were, were not on me any longer. Naruto started to leave the arena, and I stood up to cheer.

"Way to go, Naruto!" I shouted. He must have heard my voice because he turned to me and waved. I looked over at my teammate. He hadn't moved, but Hinata had. I wondered if he had done something to her. Since it would be awhile till Naruto's next match, I left my seat to go to the restroom. I entered one of stalls and dawned on my face and uncovered my ANBU uniform.

I landed next to the Hokage. He looked at me, an angry look on his face. He had probably seen me among the civilians.

"Phoenix," he said.

"Hokage-sama, I need to speak with you in private. It's an important matter." My eyes were locked on the Kazekage. It was his eyes that had been on me this whole time, the intent so thick it was hard to breathe. This would turn out to be the ultimate test of my skills. I'm not going to lie; I was scared.

The Hokage nodded and followed me around the corner.

"There's a spy among the ANBU, I'm afraid one of my teammates is no longer with us."

"Hai, I understand," he said. "Stay near me, if my guess is correct I'm going to need you here."

"Understood!" He nodded and returned to his seat.

"Something wrong, Hokage-sama?" asked the Kazekage.

"No," said the Hokage.

* * *

I was born under a full moon. That's why my mother named me Tsukiko, meaning child of the moon. My mother died not long after my birth. She got to name me and that was it. She didn't want me to be a ninja, but when I turned fourteen, things got dangerous for the Uchiha.

Even now, as I watch one of the Kazekage's bodyguards pull out a grenade, life's still dangerous for an Uchiha. I jumped out of the way, just as the bomb went off, throwing dust and debris into the air. A team of fellow ANBU jumped out of their hiding places. The Captain cut both of the bodyguards in half, but as soon as the four halves hit the ground, four people jumped up and formed a rectangle around both of the Kages.

They quickly put up a barrier so that no one could enter. One of the ANBU didn't realize this and ran into it. I watched as his skin started to burn away. I was frozen to the spot. Even the slightest mistake could mean my life. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. All I had to do was pretend that this was just another training drill, nothing more.

Within moments I was in battle mode, ready to fight.

It only took me a few moments to formulate a plan. I took a quick look at my surroundings, said a little prayer to any gods that were listening, and jumped as high as I possibly could.

"Phoenix no!" I heard the captain shout. It was too late to obey his orders now. The Hokage was practically a grandfather to me. I wasn't about to let him die like that, at the hands of his own student. I could hear all the other shinobi shout at me.

"What is she thinking?!"

"She's crazy!"

"She's going to get herself killed!"

I already knew all that. These two were at Kage level, but that wasn't about to deter me from what I was about to do. I was already half-way there anyway. When I felt myself hit the limit of my jump, I threw all my weight down towards the middle of the barrier. I could almost hear Orochimaru laughing at me. I gathered up just the right amount of chakra in my right hand as I performed the correct hand signs.

And...

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****I'll be waiting to hear from you all. As in the last chapter, first reviewer gets ten (10) cookies, second gets five (5), third gets three (3), and fourth gets one (1). I'm afraid the rest of you won't be able to get cookies, but there's a chance that your jutsu will be picked.**

**Helpful criticism will be welcomed with open arms! Flames will be shot down, and questions will be answered (depending on the questions).**


	3. The fight

"_What is she thinking?!"_

"_She's crazy!"_

"_She's going to get herself killed!"_

_I already knew all that. These two were at Kage level, but that wasn't about to deter me from what I was about to do. I was already half-way there anyway. When I felt myself hit the limit of my jump, I threw all my weight down towards the middle of the barrier. I could almost hear Orochimaru laughing at me. I gathered up just the right amount of chakra in my right hand as I performed the correct hand signs._

_And..._

"_Katon: Taiyo tama jutsu!"_

Fire style; sun sphere jutsu is a technique only I can perform. Since I was born with the kekkei genkai for both the Sharingan and the Byakugan, I was born with an unusual amount of chakra so I could use both for extended periods of time. My chakra, I discovered only a month after my joining the ANBU, was a fire type, so I managed to create an extremely powerful fire technique based on my style of chakra. It's basically an extremely powerful ball of fire about the size of a fly hovering just above my fingers. Thanks to my Byakugan, I'm able to control my chakra just right to condense my chakra to such a small size.

With so much chakra condensed, it's basically a miniature sun, and it packs a powerful punch.

It hits the barrier and breaks the barrier, but only momentarily to get me onto the battle field. While I had been in the air, Orochimaru had summoned the first two Hokage's back from the dead. So I found myself in the middle of a Kage battle.

"Well," said Orochimaru, "you managed to get in. For that I commend you, but because of that, you're low on chakra."

I was nearly out. I don't usually use that jutsu all willy nilly like that, but I could not just sit and watch my world crumble to pieces.

"That maybe so, but you don't know me, and I have more then one trick up my sleeve," I said. Orochimaru just smirked at my words.

"Allow me to call your bluff," he said. "We'll let the Hokage's fight it out, and you and I can fight it out."

I had been on a few pretty hostile missions up to this point, but this scared me out of my wits. I just had to hope that I was good enough to at least put up a decent fight. The two Hokages just rushed past me. I focused what chakra I had on my Byakugan while my Sharingan faded. I would need my Byakugan for my next technique.

Orochimaru made a few hand signs when he threw back his head and opened his mouth. A snake came out and opened its mouth to reveal a sword. He brought up his hand and pulled the sword out before closing his mouth. At this point I was disgusted.

"Okay, that's just weird and disgusting," I said. "Has that snake been there that whole time?" Orochimaru just grinned wickedly at me, and charged at me. I ducked under the blow of his sword and made a few hand signs of my own before reaching for his arm. My hand grasped air as he dodged it.

"I don't know what jutsu you're about to use, but I can assure you, I won't let it work on me," he said. I was running out of time and chakra. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to decide what to do. I needed to be able to see the tenketsu points with my Byakugan, but I needed my Sharingan to predict his next move. I opened my eyes with both activated. I charged at him, my legs heavy with stress.

He whipped his sword out ready to slice it into me. I dodged it and reached for his arm once more. His muscles began to move, and I could see where he was about to head. I reached for where his arm would land by the time his arm got there and...

"Sabaka no jutsu!" Within just a few moments, I felt his cold, dark chakra spill into my fingers and up my arm. A chill went down my spine, but I did not let it show as I held onto his arm with all the might I had as I began to drain his chakra into me. He brought his sword down at me but then stopped when he looked into my left eye through the mask, and immediately I realized my mistake.

"Sharingan..." he whispered. I let go and jumped back. His cold glare remained on my left eye. "Remove your mask!" He shouted at me. I silently refused as I had enough of his chakra to use for combat. He had plenty more then what I had taken, I knew that, but I wasn't here to kill him, just keep him from killing the Third.

"Remove your mask, Uchiha!" He shouted again. I slipped out a shuriken and threw it at him with all my might. He knocked them away with his sword. He lunged at me, determined to remove my mask.

Startled and frightened, like I had been the whole time, I staggered back with a kunai in hand. Snakes shot form his sleeve and bit down on my arm holding the kunai. He reached for my mask, and I leaned back and brought up my foot to meet with his face, which it did. He flew back from the blow, the snakes going with him along with a chunk of my arm.

It hurt like all hell, but I clenched my teeth as I attempted to endure. I looked to see how the Third was holding out. It did not look good for either of us. I saw Orochimaru tackle from behind me. I spun out with my fist when he disappeared, to the untrained eye anyway. I could see his every move with my Sharingan. I pulled my kunai out and ran at him. He seemed to expect this as he countered by running at me in return.

I pulled my kunai at him and he ducked around it and reached for my mask. I guess I had been a little slow because he got a hold of it as I pulled my head back. With the snap, it came off and fell to the ground.

I was mad. I focused all my chakra to my left eye as I glared at him. He had a smug smirk on his face as he studied me.

"Well, well, a half Uchiha, half Hyuuga, who would have thought?" he said laughingly. I was so mad. I wanted him to burn, just burn and die... burn and die... _burn and die..._

_Amaretsu..._

I felt something wet and sticky drip down my cheek as I watched a black flame ignite at Orochimaru's feet. I have never seen such a horrified look on anyones face. I did not want to kill no matter how much he deserved it. Killing someone just was not in me. I could not face life knowing I had destroyed another person.

"Stop!" I cried as the flame suddenly died down. Suddenly, my vision blurred and my world went black.

*

"The first thing to return to me was my sense of smell. It was that restricting clean scent that makes you feel dirty, no matter how much you shower. Well, that's how I always felt when I was in the hospital. Next I could sense a hard uncomfortable bed underneath me. My eyes fluttered open and I was greeted with an unusual sight. Instead of masks to greet me, I could actually see everyone's face. They were all jounin, but what really surprised me was who was sitting on my bed. His silver hair was pushed to the side, and his lazy eye was peering into one of those perverted books he was always reading. I had only heard of him and had seen him from a distance.

"Kakashi-sempai?"

He snapped the book shut and looked over at me. With only one eye to see, it was hard to read his expression. Though that probably only meant there was no expression to read.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," he said.

"What happened?" I moaned. I was tired, but I wanted to know what happened.

"Well, it was discovered that you were an Uchiha, so you can't be hiding anymore. Hyuuga clan leader wants to have a word with you, and Orochimaru escaped."

"What about the Third?"

"He died trying to protect you. You had fainted, and Orochimaru was going to kill you, but the Third got to him first," said Kakashi. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a slip of paper.

"This was found on the Hokage's desk," he said as he placed it on the desk. "It's a letter to you. No one's read it. Now, since you're no longer an ANBU, the jounin council have discussed it, we have decided to make you a jounin." My eyes widened.

"What?"

"You held your own against a Sanin, you've deserved it," he said. I was not sure about all this new information. It was almost over whelming. The man who had taken me in when my mother was dieing was gone. I looked over the letter and sat up.

"Anyway, we'll leave you alone, but there are some ANBU guarding the door," he said as he stood up. The other jounin followed him out, but I did not notice. I really did not care. I slowly reached for the envelope holding the Third's letter to me. I opened it carefully and started reading it.

In those few moments I learned some terrible secrets about my Uchiha heritage. However, my mission remained the same.

Since I had entered the ANBU, I was preparing for my ultimate mission. If something happened to Sasuke, I was to be the one to take out Itachi.

_Dear Tsukiko,_

_This letter holds the truth to your heritage of the Uchiha clan. You must never reveal any of this to anybody under any circumstances..._

*

Today was the day of the funeral. Everyone was dressed in black to mourn the loss of the Hokage. My heart was aching, but I had to go see the Hyuuga clan leader today. He wanted to know who my mother was to see which branch I belonged to. I was not, however, about to be classified. I wasn't just a Hyuuga after all.

I entered the Hyuuga estate. Everyone was staring at me like I had grown a second head. The first person I ran into was my powerful cousin, Neji. He had a blank look on his face. I smiled at him but his expression didn't change.

"Hey, Neji, I saw your fight with Naruto," I said. "I'm sure that was quite a surprise." I'm not sure why but I thought I saw a smile grace his lips as I continued on my way to the main house. I opened the door and pulled out of my shoes before stepping inside. The next person I met was Hinata. She smiled when she saw me.

"Hey Hinata," I said. The air in this house was constricting me. Maybe I was more Uchiha then I was Hyuuga.

"Hello," she said softly with a bow.

"Okay, no formalities! I maybe part Hyuuga, but I simply can't stand this!" I said was I waved my hands in the air. I stepped into the main room where Hiashi of the Hyuuga was waiting for me.

"So you're the half-breed," he said.

"Well, uh, yeah," I said as I sat down on my knees. "Although the term half-breed is kind of degrading. How about the Uchiha with the Byakugan eye."

"Who was your mother?" he asked.

"Your younger sister, Nanami," I replied a little more respectfully.

"Nanami, I should have known," he said. "She was always a little rebellious."

"Can I just say I know how she feels?" I replied. "I hope the Uchiha weren't the same way."

"Who was your father?"

"I don't know, I was never told," I replied.

"All right, you are dismissed," he said. "Hinata will show you where your room will be."

"Huh?"

"I'm accepting you into the Hyuuga clan," he said. Before I knew it, I was on my feet.

"What?"

"Um, Tsukiko-san, th-this way," whispered Hinata. My eyes were wide.

"Am I being punked?" I joked as I followed her down the hallway. The Hyuuga were accepting me? This had to be a dream. Was it because I had fought Orochimaru and had survived the ordeal.

I pondered this all the way to the funeral, but my thoughts immediately flew away when I saw Naruto on his way to the funeral as well. Along with him were two of his friends. A girl with pink hair and the one and only Sasuke stepping along the cobblestone walk way. I followed them silently. I had been a little jovial at the Hyuuga household, but the honest truth was that I was truly sorrowful over the loss of the Third. He had died to save me. Perhaps he would have died anyway, but at that moment, it felt like my fault.

As I placed my flower down, I peered at his picture with tears running down my face.

"I'm sorry."

*

**Well, that went better then I thought it would... I think... What do you think? Review please!**


	4. Uchiha Itachi

**Well, when I first wrote this, I honestly had NO idea what was going to happen (amazing I got this far!). I didn't think I would have any spoilers so if you don't read the manga, well, I won't give everything away, but I'm going to go ahead and warn you, there's going to be some spoilers in here. I tried. I really did!**

* * *

I was waiting at the shop Kakashi wanted to meet me at in my new jounin garb. He had said something about meeting Sasuke so I was pretty excited. I was hopeful that Sasuke was more like me then most of the Hyuuga clan. In the mean time, Neji and Hinata were both with me. Since I had moved into the Hyuuga estate (an Uchiha living with the Hyuuga, go figure), Hinata and Neji seemed to get closer since they were both getting closer to me. I had been alone in that apartment for five years so I was going to try and be friends with whoever I could. This made me think of Naruto. Neji, Hinata and I talked about all sorts of things and we had a lot of fun together. With permission, I would take them to certain places and show them the best restaurants. I would do impressions of Hinata's father or some one of authority, and they would laugh, or we would go out and do things that most of the Hyuuga clan—and I think the Uchiha clan—would have never approved of.

"So I think we should put the bucket of slime above this door instead," I said as I pointed at the map we had drawn of the Hyuuga estate. "He always goes through that door at 15:15 (3:15)."

"Yeah, but I think the dining room door is just as good," said Neji. It took a lot of convincing on my part to get them to try this. We were planning an assault on Hiashi, Hinata's father.

"If we get discovered, we'll get in so much trouble," said Hinata. I grinned wickedly at her.

"That's the point," I said. "Maybe we should get Naruto into this." I saw her blush at the mention of him and I knew immediately she had a crush on him. _Aw, how cute!_It was then I noticed the two suspicious persons walk into the building. They had straw hats with bells and ribbons hanging from them. The most notable trait was the strange cloaks they wore. They were black with red clouds. Neji and Hinata seemed to pick up on the sudden tension that had been built up. All three of us were silent for a moment. We did not want to cause alarm if they were not really dangerous. There were too many people around. I put up a smile and acted naturally as I possibly could.

"Why don't the both of you go on home?" I said. "We can talk about sliming Hiashi-sama later." They both nodded.

"See you at home," Hinata muttered as she picked up the map and walked out. I let out a sigh when I saw Kakashi step up to the shop. I stood up and stepped out, but as I stepped past them I looked at them.

"'Sup?" I said cheerfully. I saw the Sharingan under one of the hats, and it took everything in me not to bust out laughing. Especially when I heard the other say, "Did she just say 'Sup' to you?"

So when I came out trembling from the strain, Kakashi was a bit surprised.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said, my voice slightly constrained. I was going to be giggling about that for weeks. I noticed the two jounin behind me, Asuma and Kurenai. I turned and smiled at them, pretending not to notice the two behind me.

"Hey, you two look good together!" I said. They both glared at me, and I figured Kakashi had said the same thing. "What? It's true! Right Kakashi?!"

"Don't you drag _me_ into your messes."

"So what are you two doing here?" asked Asuma. "I thought you didn't like sweets Kakashi."

"I'm actually here to put something on a grave. Sasuke is meeting us here," said Kakashi. I noticed Kurenai looked over at the two men sitting inside the shop ten back at us.

"Ah, for a moment I thought you two were on a date," Asuma joked. I turned bright red and quietly wondered what Kakashi thought of that. He didn't say anything, but I could tell (sort of) he was angry that Asuma suggested it.

"Now that's just stupid," I said.

"Whoa! Kakashi, you showed up before me?" said a male voice. I turned to find Uchiha Sasuke approaching us. He looked at me. Well, more specifically, he looked at my eyes and frowned. The two cloaked figures with in the shop disappeared.

"You have weird eyes." _Little bastard._

"Well," sort of, I wasn't really, "it's nice to meet you, too." We were going to end up killing each other. He peered into the shop I had just been in.

"I don't like natto, or sweet things," he said.

"Yep, see! No relation to me whatsoever!" I proclaimed since I had a bit of a sweet tooth... Okay a lot of a sweet tooth!

"Sasuke, I called you here to meet some one really important," said Kakashi, stepping in before he and I killed each other. "This is Uchiha Tsukiko."

"First known as Yoshikawa Tsukiko, then Phoenix with in the ANBU ranks, then as of recently, Uchiha Tsukiko when my identity was released to the public," I declared cheerfully. He simply glared at me.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone to get to know each other," said Kakashi.

"All right," I said when he left. "Wait, what? Kakashi, we're going to end up killing each other! Kakashi!"

While I was yelling, my shadow clone was following him. I knew the real reason he had taken off, but I wasn't about to let them have all the fun. I stopped short when I saw whom they were fighting, Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi. Both were S-class missing nins Orochimaru seemed to pale in comparison with these two. Most people would have been angry or frightened, but ever since I had read that letter, I had felt a sort of compassion for the younger-then-I Uchiha.

_If you had been discovered as an Uchiha any sooner, you would have been the one to carry the burden._

What would I have done in Itachi's place? Would I have gone through with it? I don't know, but I probably would have done the exact same thing. I felt something in my heart clench painfully, I was going to fail my mission to destroy him. I was going to save him.

Suddenly Kakashi seemed to fall. My heart leaped into my chest; I would have to step in.

"You're not the only ones, are you?" he said through heavy pants. "I know all about you. You call yourselves the Akatsuki."

I was silent, waiting for my opportunity.

"Kisame, change of plans: we're taking Kakashi with us. Make the other two disappear," I heard Itachi say. I activated both my eyes and jumped. I kicked Kisame in the face as hard as I could sending him flying across the river. Everyone seemed pretty surprised to see me.

"Took you long enough," said Kakashi.

"I thought you could handle it," I replied. I didn't want to fight. One of us would surely end up dead.

"Who are you?" asked Itachi. He was staring at my Sharingan. My heart was racing a mile a minute. This was him, the one who destroyed my other half of my family. There was no guarantee that he wouldn't kill me.

"Uchiha Tsukiko, a long lost relative of yours," I said. Having seen how his Mangekyo Sharingan works, I was confident I could use it... to some extent any way. Perhaps I could just scare him off. "I don't want to fight anyone, so get lost!"

"Don't let them go!" shouted Asuma. "They're after Naruto."

"I know," I said. "However, I don't think Itachi wants to try his hand against some one with the Mangekyo _and _the kekkei genkai for it. Plus I have the Byakugan to back me up."

"Byakugan?" said Kisame.

"Yes, someone in the Uchiha wasn't exactly proper, you might say, same for the Hyuuga." I looked back at Itachi. I watched him as his body went rigid with tension when our eyes met. He wasn't about to let his guard down with me. Perhaps he had fought with another Mangekyo before.

"Kisame, let's go," said Itachi.

"What?"

"We didn't come here to start a war. Tempting as it is," _liar,_ "this is not the way to do this, let's go."

"Before you go Itachi, let me just say something," I said. He turned and looked at me. I grinned wickedly. "You're a pretty good actor."

* * *

Sasuke and I headed down the street. Neither of us knew where we were going, and I knew I didn't really care. It was obvious Sasuke and I were not going to get along.

"So, what happened exactly?" he asked.

"It's a long story, you sure you want to hear it?"

"Yeah, I've got time, I guess." He was lying. He probably wanted to go train or something. I grinned and poked his shoulder.

"Hey, let's go train and I'll tell you everything as we're training. I'll even see if I can teach you some of my techniques."

We got to my special training grounds. Sasuke looked at me expectantly. Waiting for me to talk about how I found out I was an Uchiha and such. I told him about how on my fourteenth birthday, the same day of the massacre, I had been told by a group of ANBU black ops about how my parents weren't really my parents. My real mother was of the Hyuuga clan, Hyuuga Nanami, and my father was of the Uchiha clan, name was unknown.

My mother had wanted me to grow up out of the ninja world, but the reality of my heritage would not let me escape easily. For my own protection, and for the protection of Konoha, I was forced into ANBU at age fourteen. For five years I trained and lived secretly away from the rest of the village. Until the Chuunin exams.

"So you kind of lost your parents the same way I did," he said.

"Sort of, but unlike you I might see them again. Who knows?"

"Itachi killed our entire family," he hissed.

"I know," I replied.

"Don't get in my way. I'm going to be the one to kill Itachi."

"Why do you have to do it alone?" I asked. "You think I'm not hurt by all of this? You think I like the fact that I'll never even get to see my father's face? Sasuke, You are not the only one who suffers from this loss, I want to help you. That's why we're here. You ready to start training with me?"

"Yeah."

* * *

"I still don't understand why you let them go," said Asuma. I ignored this. Explaining was not going to be easy so I dropped it.

"From their behavior, it doesn't seem like they've found Naruto yet," I said. Asuma glared at me but let the subject drop.

"But don't you think that's odd?" he asked. "They've already been here inside the village, and Itachi knows Naruto's face." The door opened to reveal Sasuke.

"Hey Sasuke, sorry I had to cut our time together short," I said. I had actually told him quite suddenly that I had to go and disappeared. I don't think he appreciated that since he continually glared at me.

"Why is Kakashi bedridden?" he asked. "What are all you jounin doing here? What the heck is going on?"

"Nothing much," I said when another jounin burst through the door.

"Is it true that Itachi showed up in town," he shouted, "and that he's after Naruto?!" The look on Sasuke's face before he bolted was truly bone chilling. I ended up chasing him down. There was no way Sasuke would be able to do anything against Itachi.

_Looks like I'm going to have to be the peace maker in the family,_I thought to myself. "Why is it always me? It happened at the Yoshikawa family reunions too!"

I managed to follow his movements with my Byakugan, but I lost track of him when we got to the city. I wasn't going to let either of them get hurt.

Unfortunately, Sasuke got there first.

"Long time no see, Sasuke," said the oh-so-familiar voice of Itachi.

"Uchiha Itachi," said Sasuke.

"My, my, today is truly an unusual day indeed," said Kisame. "To see the Sharingan not just twice, but three times." Sasuke ignored Kisame. More like he didn't even notice Kisame's or Naruto's presence, his sole focus was Itachi.

"I will kill you."

The hallway got heavy with tension, but I was not—I was _not—_going to let anything happen. If I had to use my own Mangekyo, so be it.

"Not today Sasuke!" I came up behind him. "You're not strong enough yet, and I'm not about to let you go and get yourself killed. It would prove nothing." My Sharingan and Byakugan were active and ready. Naruto was surprised to see me. "Naruto, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but my identity was a secret when I met you so I couldn't tell you. Now just back away, this is not your fight."

"He destroyed our family, surely if you and I work together we could take him down!" shouted Sasuke.

"I may not be able to empathize with your loss, Sasuke," I said, "but I sure as all hell am not about to let what's left of the Uchiha clan go down in flames."

"Well, you're going to have to fight anyway," said Kisame. "If you want to save this kid!" He brought down his sword but it was stopped by a large toad that had been summoned by Jiraiya.

"Sasuke, when I tell you, run," I said. I was going to fight Itachi. Jiraiya was quick to understand the situation.

"But-"

"Sasuke, you want to live right, get out of here," I whispered. "I'm not getting in your way, I'm helping you." I didn't know how to put it. I just wanted him out of there. I was glad he got the picture.

Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hey!" shouted Kisame.

"Run Sasuke!" With that he bolted but not before looking back at me. We got off on the wrong foot, but we were still family. That much was proven with my Sharingan and willingness to protect him.

"Looks like it's just the four of us," said Jiraiya.

**

* * *

**

Well, I'm gonna stop there. Hopefully the fight there will be something to read about, unlike the fight with Orochimaru. I'm kind of wondering how she'll hold out against Itachi. (Wait, I'm the writer right?) Any way, every reviewer gets ten cookies! Repeat: every reviewer gets ten (10) cookies!

Also, if anyone has any suggestions on couples that would be great. Not SasuSaku! I'm sorry, I can't do it (not without bashing it subconsciously). I wouldn't be caught dead writing SasuSaku.

**P.S. Does anyone know (or have an educated guess) how old Kakashi is?**


	5. Mangekyo Sharingan

"_Run Sasuke!" With that he bolted but not before looking back at me. We got off on the wrong foot, but we were still family. That much was proven with my Sharingan and willingness to protect him._

"_Looks like it's just the four of us," said Jiraiya._

We all stood there for several moments. Each of us daring each other to make the first move. Itachi had his eyes focused on me, almost as if he could see straight through my bravado and see my knees trembling. I gathered what courage I had and activated my Mangekyo Sharingan along with my Byakugan. Itachi finally made the first move, by running straight at me, his Mangekyo burning at me. He pulled a kunai out, and I pulled out one of my own. He swiped at me and I dodged by leaning all the way back. I watched his kunai fly just above my nose before I knocked it out of his hand. I used the same hand I had used to knock it out of his hand to twist over and bring my legs up to kick at him.

He caught my leg and threw me into the wall and through it. It hurt like all hell, but I shook off the pain. When I was sure nothing was broken, I lunged at him, kunai at the ready. As it flew past his cheek, barely grazing it, he grabbed my arm and pulled me close to ensnare me into his Tsukiyomi.

I was pulled into this world where color did not exist. Everything was black and white as far as I could tell. I did not fight it. Instead, I welcomed it. This was the opportunity I had been waiting for.

"_Itachi, stop," I said. Neither of us moved as he waited for me to continue. "This is just what I wanted, to talk to you."_

"_There's nothing to talk about," he said._

"_I know the truth about the Uchiha clan. I know about how they were plotting a rebellion and that you destroyed them for the sake of Konoha, but I think Sasuke has a right to know too." Itachi's eyes widened as he took a step toward me._

"_No!"_

"_I won't tell him without your permission, but I want to save you! You don't deserve to die like that! You should be praised as a hero for your great sacrifice!"_

"_No, I destroyed my family for power, I will never be praised like that!"_

"_But you didn't! No one knows what you've done! You deserve true happiness! I want to help you find it!"_

"_I would be happy enough to be killed by Sasuke," he said, slowly accepting that I knew the truth._

"_But I wouldn't! I'm part of the Uchiha too! I want to salvage what's left of it! I want to save you and Sasuke!"_

"_Why?!" He shouted. I backed away. His usually impassive face was filled with anger and sadness. He carried a burden to heavy for me to bare. "Why do you want to save me? I destroyed the family you could have had!"_

"_No, my family was destroyed when I was born. My mother died and my father married another woman," I said calmly, "but I want the Uchiha to live in peace with Konoha! It will be a long struggle, but we can do it! I need your help!"_

"_How?!" he was so close to me now, his breath mixing with mine. "Why?! Why?! Why do you try so hard for someone you don't even know?! For someone who murdered everyone in his family?! Why?!"_

"_You and Sasuke are a part of my family, and I care for Sasuke just as much as you do. I want to save Sasuke from the dark path you are forcing him to go down! Why can't you see that you are hurting him in the long run?!" His hands shot up and curled around my throat. His hands were cold but strong._

"_Shut up!" His eyes were wild. I had struck a cord that had not been touched for a long time. I gasped for breath and struggled to break free of his hold, but it was no use. "You don't know anything about me." What happened to the emotionless Itachi? This Itachi frightened me even more._

"_You're right, I don't," I gasped. I reached up to his cheek and stroked it gently. He flinched slightly at the sudden contact. "I still want to save you though."_

He released the genjutsu on me, but before I had time to recover, his hands were around my neck once more. He was going to kill me. He wasn't going to take the chance that I might tell Sasuke. I struggled against him, but I was powerless.

"Let... go..." I gasped. The edges of my vision were going black. _Let go... Let go... Let go!..._

_LET GO!_

His hands released me and he somehow went flying across the hallway into Jiraiya and Kisame. I felt my chakra dwindle and I felt a cold but familiar presence within me. Orochimaru's old chakra writhed and squirmed in my veins, ready to over come me at any moment. I didn't even have enough chakra to activate my eyes. I thought I heard Itachi say something as I fell to the floor.

My world went black.

* * *

I awoke to find a familiar face staring down at me, coal black eyes and hair. He looked worried. I managed to smile as my eyes fluttered open.

"The worried look on your face doesn't suit you, Sasuke," I muttered. He apparently heard it since he frowned and looked away.

"Tsuki-chan!" another familiar voice shouted.

"Naruto?" I barely managed to sit up before I was tackled by blue eyes and blond hair.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll be okay I guess," my body felt like lead, but I was quite determined to sit up and look at my surroundings. Kakashi was there as well. He didn't look to bad, but I could tell he was struggling with it.

"Kakashi, if this is how you feel right now, go lie down right now!" I said.

"I wanted to see how you were going to react to being tackled by these two. Looks like you've created a special bond with these two boys," he said. Next to him stood a young girl who was about the same age as Naruto. She had lovely pink hair and pretty green eyes.

"I love your hair," I said to her. She blushed. "I'm Tsukiko Uchiha, a long lost relative of Sasuke's. You must be the female of the team."

"Haruno Sakura," she said with a bow, "and thank you."

"Sakura, huh? Gee, I wonder why your parents named you that?" I said jokingly.

"Well, it's good to see that Itachi's Tsukiyomi did not cause too much damage to your mind," said a woman with blond hair and big brown eyes. Standing next to her stood Jiraiya with a huge grin on his face.

"Thank you," I said. She smiled.

"You're welcome, I'm Tsunade, by the way, the fifth Hokage," she said.

"What exactly did he do to you?" asked Jiraiya. "I've never seen such a wild look on anyones face."

"That's not important. I have the Mangekyo so I was able to fight back to some extent," I said.

"Well, what ever happened, it must not have been too terrible," said Tsunade. "I'll need you and Kakashi to stay here in the hospital for at least a few more days, and Kakashi, that means go get in bed NOW!" Sure enough, Kakashi was gone and in his room before the Godaime could say another word to him. Tsunade left the room with Jiraiya hot on her heels.

Not being able to take the pain much longer, I laid back down with a sigh. Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at me worriedly.

"You going to be okay?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I said. "A few days rest and I'll be out training again."

"Hey, maybe Kakashi-sensei will let you train with us," said Naruto.

"I don't know," I said. "I guess he wouldn't mind having another jounin to spar with. Anyway, you guys go on home. Kakashi and I will be fine." They all nodded and left the room.

Now that I was alone, I had time to think about what had occurred between Itachi and I. He had tried to kill me. Not that I blame him, it had been his mission to kill all the Uchihas. With no emotional ties to me, it would have been easy for him, had I not been so insistent in saving him. He may have been a serial killer, but he had done it on orders. He didn't deserve to die for the sake of another's crimes. Besides, it was better that the Uchiha die then have millions of others die and suffer because of their selfishness.

The honest to goodness truth was, if I had been in Itachi's place, I would have done the same thing. I had never seen the horrors of war, not like Itachi had. I had been protected from it all, by my biological mother, the Hokage, and even my foster parents, so I could only imagine the pain he had to go through, but I could still sympathize, care, and in the end love him. He was family, and through the nineteen years that I had lived so far, I had learned at least one thing.

Family does not get left behind. I needed my family, and Itachi was part of that family. I would save him... even if it meant my own death.

* * *

Later that night, I woke up to go to the bathroom and to stretch my legs a bit. I walked by Kakashi's room to see him still in bed. I walked by the office when I heard voices. Tsunade and Jiraiya were talking about the fight between Itachi and I.

"So tell me again what happened?" asked Tsunade.

"Well, after Itachi used his Tsukiyomi on her, he grabbed her by the throat and began to strangle her. I tried to get to her, but Kisame kept me away. When it looked like she was about to pass out, her body seemed to light up in a fiery blaze, and Itachi was thrown back into Kisame and myself. I'm not sure if any one else felt it, but something was there, protecting her. As quickly as it had come, it vanished. Itachi and Kisame fled leaving Tsukiko and I alone," Jiraiya replied thoughtfully.

"Anything else you can remember?"

"Well, I thought I heard something about the _Phoenix,_ but I'm not sure," said Jiraiya. I felt a shiver run down my spine. I had no memory of this occurring, no flames engulfing me or a voice about the _Phoenix._

This information was a little frightening for me and I hurried to the bathroom and to my room. _Phoenix_? What could that be about? Was it another ability I possessed, and if so, how could I access it?

These thoughts swirled around in my head in a never ending hurricane of emotion. Bolts of fright over not knowing struck me every now and again. Eventually I fell into a restless sleep.

_

* * *

_

I was gently floating down a river, my long black hair fanning out around me. The water was warm and inviting. On one side of the river, the trees were burning, and I saw Sasuke walking along that side, staring at me. On the other, the trees were burning from the black fire of Amaretasu, and Itachi was walking on that side, a sad smile on his face as he watched me.

_The river ran into a cliff where there was a huge dragon carved into the cliff's face. The mouth of the dragon opened for the river to enter and I gently floated inside. The roof of the cave was covered in bright crystals that looked like stars, but as I took a closer look, I saw each crystal was reflecting my Mangekyo. I stopped moving and one of the crystals grew. Inside stood my reflection. She stared back at me, an impassive look on her face._

_Suddenly it changed. It was no longer my reflection, but rather it was Naruto. He opened his eyes, and instead of meeting with happy blue eyes, I was met with angry, evil red eyes with slits for pupils._

"_Naruto?"_

_The crystal between us disappeared, and he brought his right hand back and a rasengan appeared._

"_Naruto?"_

"_This is for Sasuke!" And he attacked._

* * *

I awoke with a startled cry. I had never seen such a murderous look in Naruto's eyes. I felt a shiver crawl down my spine. What would have made him hate me so much? Did it have something to do with Sasuke? I shook my head. It was just a dream. Just a dream...

Just a dream...

I laid back down on my hospital bed and let out a frightened breath. It was nothing more then that. I looked around at the empty hospital room. On the window were some get well cards and a vase full of flowers. No doubt bought at the Yamanaka flower shop. It was a mix of daffodils and white chrysanthemums.

Suddenly the door burst open to reveal Tsunade with a clip board in hand. Behind her stood Kakashi and Jiraiya, they all had solemn looks on their faces. I raised my eyebrow at them.

"So, am I going to die?" I asked. "Give it to me straight now."

"This is important," said Tsunade. I quickly shut my mouth. "I need to know, for your sake, what exactly happened during Itachi's Tsukiyomi."

"Didn't I tell you not to worry," I said. "Nothing bad happened. I was able to fight it in time." My hand went to my throat subconsciously. I could still feel his hands on my throat.

"Look we need to know," said Jiraiya. "Something happened afterwards and it was probably triggered by Itachi's Mangekyo."

"What happened?" I asked, pretending I didn't know. Jiraiya explained what happened.

"Do you remember that?" asked Tsunade.

"No, I don't," I replied.

"Well, can you think of any time that sort of thing happened before?" she asked. I thought about it for a moment. I could vaguely remember something when I was six.

"Um, there was this one time a friend of mine and I were playing by this cliff," I started. I told them a story about how my friend fell off the cliff, and in my desperation, I ran down to see if she was all right. Her back was broken so she couldn't move. I hugged her, and the next thing I knew, I was somewhere else. I'm not sure how to describe it. There were lights all over the place. I reached out and touched one, and it came to life. The light engulfed me, and I found myself experiencing one of her past experiences. Suddenly the memory faded and the lights started to dissipate one by one. I did my best to save the lights, but it was no use. Eventually every light went out. I had thought it was just a dream at the time, but when I woke up, it had been a month since the incident. My friend was dead.

"That is the only strange thing that's happened to me," I said. Tsunade just nodded her head. Kakashi stared at me with his coal black eye, and I'm not sure if I was imagining it, but I thought I saw a hint of worry. Jiraiya had a stoic expression.

"That is unusual," said Tsunade. "Do you know anything about something called the _Phoenix_?"

I shook my head. Tsunade frowned. I felt like I was being interrogated.

"Look," I said. "There's nothing to worry about. I'm sure it'll never happen again." I sure as hell didn't tell them that the day after the incident occurred, the Kyuubi had attacked Konoha.

* * *

**Well, I'm going to go ahead and give out cookies again to reviewers. I tried to put more fight in this, but Tsukiko said she didn't want to destroy the building so she didn't use any of her ninjutsu. I was very disappointed. Anyway, ten cookies to each reviewer! So review please. The couples thing is still open for debate. If there's a couple you want to see happen here (that's not SasuSaku) go ahead and convince me, it won't be hard.**


	6. A look into the past

_It wasn't easy getting here, but now we can live like a happy family. Konoha has five great heroes. Three of them are Uchihas. I'm so proud of everyone. They worked so hard. We fought with everything we had, and we won! To think, my story is just beginning..._

Naruto jumped out of the bushes towards me. I jumped up and kicked at him. I hit my mark, but he vanished in a puff of smoke. Three shurikens came flying out at me. I grabbed a nearby branch to pull myself out of the way as the zoomed past, cutting my clothes.

"Hey!" I shouted. "Lay off the threads! We're training! Not trying to kill each other!"

"If they don't try to kill you, none of them will ever get stronger," said a familiar voice behind me. I grinned wickedly as I used that same branch to flip over and fly into the bushes behind me. Kakashi side stepped to avoid me, but my hand snatched his wrist and I pulled him down with me. We both landed on the ground with a thud.

"How about a new goal?" I said with a grin. "Whoever manages to remove your mask gets treated to ramen., your treat of course."

"That doesn't sound very fair for me," he said.

"Well, then you better make sure no one removes your mask," I said. Naruto had heard me and a thousand and one jumpsuits came raining down from the trees.

"That should keep him from remarking crudely like that for a while," I said before I took off, leaving Kakashi to deal with so many Narutos. As I raced through the trees, two kunai zipped just past my nose. I caught one, while the other went on to cut a string, springing a trap. Several shuriken came flying at me from behind. I jumped and twisted my body to avoid the shuriken and throw the kunai into the leaves below.

I watched Sasuke jump out of the way, and I was quick to follow him. He was good, better then I had been when I had first started.

*

"_Phoenix! Are you paying attention?"_

"_Uh... maybe..." I replied. My supervisor let out a sigh and shook his head at me. What did it matter? I never wanted to be a part of this any way._

"_You have a mission, a duty to Konoha, to the Country of Fire. You must do your best to fulfill it," he said._

"_This 'duty'—or whatever you call it—was forced upon me," I spat. "I should at least have the option of whether to fulfill it or not!"_

"_It's not just about fulfilling it," he said. "When you are sent on your mission after the Uchiha, it will be a do or die situation. Either you kill him or he'll kill you."_

"_Yeah, I get it, but to answer your question on whether I was paying attention or not, I was," I said. "You were talking about how to hit the right points on the body to either just knock them, or kill them."_

"_Very good," he said and he went on with his lecture. I despised the ANBU._

*

I always would. I had to thank them though. I had learned a lot about myself during the time I was there, but I was glad to be out. Sasuke suddenly halted to face me. I stopped as well, anxious to see what he would do next when he suddenly clutched his shoulder and collapsed.

"Sasuke!" I ran to his side to see if he was all right. I got a glimpse of the curse mark before he faked me out and sent a fist my way. Luckily I still had my Sharingan activated and was able to avoid catastrophe.

"You little twit!" I shouted. He smirked before making some hand signs.

"Katon: Fire Ball Jutsu!" I bearly managed to get out of the way before it hit. As the forest lit on fire, a giant wave of water came crashing down on it.

"All right, who's the genius who used a fire technique?" asked Kakashi.

"Um, that would be Sasuke," I said. Sasuke glared at me but didn't say anything.

"I think we're done for the day," said Kakashi. He pulled out his book and was just about to take off when his book disappeared. One look at the cover made me want to give it back, but it was too late to do that. Kakashi was hot on my heals.

"Gotta hide! Gotta hide!" I kept repeating. There was no way to hide from Kakashi for long, but perhaps just long enough. At the very least, somewhere he wouldn't dare go. Then I found it! A public bath! I zipped into the ladies room and got into the bath with the book in hand.

"Tsukiko? What are you doing here?" asked a familiar voice. I nearly had a heart attach until I realized who it was.

"Oh, Kurenai, it's just you! I startled me," I said with a relieved sigh. She raised an eyebrow then noticed the book in my hand.

"Isn't that Kakashi's book?" she asked. I grinned maliciously. I could see her sweat drop.

"It is," I laughed maniacally. "I'm in here to hide from him. I know he won't come in here."

"Okay. This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the ramen incident last week, would it?"

"No! Of course not!" I said as I waved my hand, dismissing the idea. The incident she was talking about was when I walked into the ramen shop, I tripped over Kakashi's foot and fell, and as I did so, I grabbed at anything to keep my from falling all the way. I had meant to grab the counter.

Instead, I grabbed a bowl of half eaten ramen and I landed face flat on the floor with ramen slithering through my hair and down my forehead.

Kakashi claimed it was an accident, but I knew better.

I studied Kurenai for a moment. I momentarily glared at her chest. Sometimes I felt that Sakura had a bigger chest then I did. I was nineteen and I didn't have any 'humps', if that's what their called now, to speak of. Life was just not fair. Then I noticed something on her neck.

"So, how's it going between you and Asuma?" I asked. She blushed.

"I thought I told you we weren't together," she said.

"Oh really," I said. "Then is that a birth mark? It looks more like a hicky to me." She quickly slapped a hand over the mark and her face was as red as her eyes. I laughed at her embarrassment.

"All right, so we have been seeing each other," said Kurenai. "What about you? You interested in anyone?"

"Me? Nope," I replied. "I'm just training to get strong enough to save the ones I care about most."

"You're a true shinobi then," said Kurenai. "That's exactly what it takes to be a shinobi, not the mission, but the ones you care about the most."

"Well, in that case, I'm glad I was forced into this," I said. "I think I've grown up some since then."

"If that's the case, then you wouldn't be stealing Kakashi's books," she said.

"I said some, not all the way!" I laughed. "Back to girl talk though, I haven't been able to say that in forever. Any way, so, how far have you and Asuma gone?"

"What do you mean by that?!" she cried. I laughed. She frowned and looked away. "I heard Genma's really interested in you."

"What? Really? I would have never guessed!" I cried. "I never thought of myself as appealing."

"All the Uchiha were good looking," said Kurenai. "You are no exception to the rule. Have you ever seen the looks on the guys faces when they see you? I think the only one immune to it is Kakashi."

"Is that so?" I said. "Well, no matter, I think the only reason for that is because of this book." I waved it in the air.

"Don't get it wet!"

"I won't." I put it down gently on a dry towel. "If Kakashi thinks of me at all though, he probably thinks I'm just a bratty teenager with a little too much power."

"I don't know."

"Hey!" another voice chimed in. Sakura had come to join us.

"Oh, hey Sakura!" I called as she headed over in our direction. She grinned at me.

"I saw you steal Kakashi-sensei's book," she said. "That was good. I'm guessing that was pay back for last week."

"No..." I denied. They both stared at me. "Okay, it is, but you know it's his fault. He started it!"

*

I slipped my towels into the hamper before stepping out of the building to find the one I was trying to avoid standing across the road, waiting for me. I smiled stupidly and scratched the back of my head as he approached me.

"Can I have my book back?" he asked.

"What book?" I joked. He took another step toward me. "All right, all right, here it is." I handed it to him as I rolled my eyes. "I don't understand what's so great about it any way."

"Did you read it?" he asked. I felt a blush creep upon my cheeks. I took a deep breath.

"Of course not!" I shrieked. "I don't read porn!"

"Good," he said before disappearing.

"Yeah, you better run!" I screamed.

"Tsuki-chan, what are you screaming about?"

"Nothing," I muttered before turning to Naruto. He was grinning stupidly at me, and I couldn't help but smile.

"That was a pretty good joke you pulled on Kakashi-sensei," he said. My smile widened.

"Yeah, it was, but as soon as he has a new book, I've got another one," I said. I whispered my plot in his ear. His grin grew wider and more evil.

"That's the best one I've ever heard!" he shouted.

"You are just like your mother," said a hard voice behind us. We both turned to see Hyuuga Hiashi stepping towards us. I gave Naruto a look telling to high-tail it out. He got the message and vanished.

"Hello Hiashi-sama," I said. "What about my mother?"

"Let's talk more on our way home," he said, motioning for me to follow. I rolled my eyes. He was the last person I wanted to see. Ever since I had been freed from ANBU, I had felt more care free then ever before. Even my fight with Itachi would not bring me down. I was free.

He wanted to talk about my mother, my real mother. I did want to hear about her.

"Your mother was a wild spirit," he started. "Always running off to do things that the rest of the clan did not approve of. She would not heed to the orders of the Head of the Clan, and it would get her into such trouble. During the great war I had noticed that she had become tamer. Perhaps it was your father who had her tamed, if so she must have truly loved him. She became more active within the clan, but she would disappear at night.

"Her behavior was so strange it concerned us all, then one morning, the Hokage summoned us to proclaim that she was dead. My younger sister died the night you were born, but the Hokage withheld this information from us."

"He did it because my mom wanted it," I said solemnly. The Hokage was the only one who tried to keep to my mother's wishes. "She knew the clan would try to search out the father, she didn't want that, so she had me hidden."

"I suppose no one will ever know who your father was," he said. That wasn't true. I knew who my father was, but I wasn't about to go and blabber about it. Quite honestly, I almost wished I didn't.

"So I'm like my mother?" I asked. It was a rhetorical question. I felt an unusual sensation slide down my face. I wiped it away to find it was a tear. I hadn't cried since the Sandaime had died. "I wish I could have met her. I wish things were different. I don't have any brothers or sisters to fight with. I don't have parents to tell me I can't do this or that."

I had friends while with the Yoshikawa family. All of them could complain about their siblings and things, then after my fourteenth birthday, I didn't even have parents to complain about. For five years I had felt so alone with the knowledge that both my real parents were gone, I would never even get to see their faces.

I burst into sobs as Hiashi led me back to the Hyuuga estate. He was silent the rest of the way as I cried the tears that had been building up for five years. Ninjas didn't cry. I had learned that during my time as an ANBU, but that didn't mean they didn't feel emotion.

I cried all the way to my room, fell into my pillow and cried some more. I had never felt so relieved before. I still felt another burden press into my shoulder blades.

"Itachi, I'll save you and Sasuke. I promise."

*

I woke up the next morning practically jumping out of my futon. I washed my face of the remains of the tears I had shed the night before. The rest of the Uchiha clan may be emo, Sasuke, but Uchiha Tsukiko was not! I was not going to live my life with the sins of the past haunting my every waking moment.

"Good morning world!" I shouted as I stepped out of my room. Neji, who had been passing by at the time, stared at me like I was crazy. Which I kind of was.

"Good morning Neji!" I said cheerfully.

"Good morning Tsukiko, what's up with you all of a sudden? You came home crying last night," he said. I shrugged.

"Oh don't worry about that!" I said. I will admit, my happiness was a bit forced. "We haven't been able to talk about that prank we were going to pull!"

"Oh, Hinata and I just set it up," he said. As if on cue, a loud cry was heard down the hallway from Hiashi's room.

"Well, I've got to go. Gai-sensei wants us to meet up early," he said as he ran out the door. Hinata was already long gone, and I was left to fend for myself.

"Tsukiko!"

"It wasn't me this time!"

*

**This was kind of a filler. I've almost decided on couples... almost...**

**Reviews are always nice.**


	7. Phoenix

The library was a place I didn't visit often. Back before I became a shinobi, I would come here to do research projects for school. Never really enjoyed it here, it was too quiet. So what was I doing here instead of training? I was going to do research of the one called _Phoenix_. I had been by the day before but found nothing helpful. After a bit more searching, I finally went to the Librarian for assistance.

"Excuse me," I said as I approached her. "I'm looking for info about the _Phoenix_, do you know if you have anything?" She looked at me with a bit of a startled look.

"Do you mean the mythological bird, or Kikotsu, the creature who taught the Sage of the Six Paths?" My eyes widened a bit. There was a creature who taught the very first ninja?

"Kikotsu," I said. I knew it wasn't the mythological bird. That had nothing to do me.

"No, I'm sorry, we don't have anything about her," she lied. I could sense her heart beat rise.

"Ma'am, I'm here on orders from the Hokage," I lied calmly. "If you're lying, I'll have to report to the Godaime."

"All right," she said. She made sure there was no one around before looking back at me. "Follow me. You must never tell anyone I showed you this." I was beginning to notice a pattern. Everything was being kept secret from the village. How many more secrets would I discover just because I was part Hyuuga and part Uchiha?

She led me to a door in the very back. On the door was a seal to keep curious shinobi—like myself—out. She released the seal and opened the door. It was a large room full of scrolls and books, probably all forbidden.

"The book I'm about to give you was put in here by the Shodaime Hokage," she said. "He thought it's information, in the wrong hands, would lead to catastrophe for the village. So before I give this to you, you must promise me you will not use this info against the village."

"I would never do that," I said. I loved Konoha too much.

"Here it is," she pulled a small old leather bound book out into the open. She blew off the dust. "There's no title, no author, and I doubt anyone can read it. The language is not of our own." I nodded my understanding. Whatever information this book held about the _Phoenix_, I needed to know.

I opened the book carefully, for fear that its weather worn pages would turn to dust in my hands. The characters were different from the common language of today, but somehow, I was able to read them.

*

_Her power is unmatched, not all the power of all the nine beasts combined is a match for her unfathomable power. Her fiery wings can reshape the very fabric of time and space. Her talons are sharp enough to tear through the earth with one fatal blow. She created the world and all who live within it._

_Her name is Kikotsu_

_She taught the very first shinobi of jutsu and ordered him to share his knowledge with the rest of humanity, but as he did so, there were some who used their knowledge to harm others. The first shinobi went to her, begging her to stop them. She replied that she could not; that it was not her place to take away the freewill of men, merely punish them, and punish them she did. She created the nine beasts as a way to punish mankind._

_With the power she had given to each, they wreaked havoc across the globe, until finally those who had misused their abilities were destroyed. Kikotsu knew, however, that evil would return, so she disappeared, leaving her creations to fend for themselves and battle until the bitter end. She prophesied that she would return to guide the one who would be her greatest creation yet. She would return as a shinobi under the most unusual circumstances._

_The world would know her power._

_*_

Kikotsu had created the Kyuubi. What connection did she have to me? Surely I was not _Phoenix_.

_Well, you're not her necessarily, rather, she lives inside of you._

"Wha?" I turned sharply with kunai in hand ready to kill anyone who was in the room with me.

_You and I both know you couldn't kill a fly even if you tried._

"Who's there?" I cried.

_No one's there, but there is something inside here._ Suddenly, my head started to ache nonstop. It nearly felt like my head was going to pop. I dropped the book and fell to my knees. The agony was too much. _You get it yet?_

"Yes, I get it!" I cried.

_Took you long enough. _The pain finally died down and I was able to think clearly once again. _I am _Phoenix._ I've been inside you since the day you were born. Remember that day when you were six?_

"Yeah, I remember."

_That was when I first awoke within you. You and I have a special bond, not like a jinchuuriki, but rather, you are a part of me._

"I don't understand."

_Well, I didn't think you would. Your spirit was with me from the very beginning, you are the one thing I did not create myself. You are not as powerful as I, but you have a connection with me, and you can call upon my powers whenever you wish._

"Really?"

_Yes, but I forbid you from using my powers for your practical jokes! That's not what they're for!_

*

Later that evening, I was at one of my favorite restaurants. What had happened at the library was still on my mind, perhaps it was all just a genjutsu someone had placed on me. Maybe Hiashi was trying to get back at me from the day before, which I did not do, but he did not believe me... typical.

"Boy, when you're gone, you are gone," said a familiar voice. Of course, being the ninja that I am nearly jumped up to kill whoever it was automatically. I managed however, to stop my fist before I hit Kakashi's face.

"Kakashi, don't do that!" I cried as I sat down.

"You're very easy to sneak up on," he said. "A charging rhino could be coming at you, and you wouldn't have noticed." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I was just thinking about things," I said.

"Like what?" he asked. "Find anything out about _Phoenix_?"

"No," I lied. "So what are you doing here anyway? You told me you didn't like this restaurant."

"Well, I came to talk to you," he said.

"The great Kakashi came to speak to me?! I'm flattered."

"I need you to talk to Sasuke," he said.

"What? Why?"

"I caught him and Naruto fighting."

"Well, how unusual! You never see genin fighting these days!" I said my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No, this was different from everyday training," he said. My eyes narrowed.

"I'll talk to him," I said.

"So, is it official yet?" Kakashi and I both turned to whoever had spoken to find Asuma grinning at us.

"Don't you have a mission to get ready for?" I asked.

"Don't you two?"

"And is what official yet?"

"Nothing," both Kakashi and Asuma answered together. I raised at eyebrow but didn't question it. It was hard to read to read Kakashi's expression, what with that blasted mask over his face, but I could have sworn I saw a hint of pink just over the mask... It was probably just a trick of the light.

"So you will talk to Sasuke?"

"Yeah, I'll talk to him tomorrow." I never got the chance. That night Sasuke had gone off with Orochimaru's goons.

*

**A little shorter then the rest, but I wanted to kind of give a whole chapter dedicated to her chasing Naruto and Sasuke (with Kakashi). Or would you rather she join Shikamaru and the gang? Next chapter we find out her relationship with Sasuke and Itachi so stay tuned.**


	8. Valley of the End

I'm not sure how to describe my reaction to the news. Sasuke had left? For sure I was outraged. I was furious! As I stood there next to Kakashi listening to Tsunade I could feel my body heat rise and I clenched my fist until I felt something wet and sticky slip between my fingers. I mentally blocked out everything. I was going to make that boy pay for such outrage. I turned around and walked out the door, ignoring the Godaime's calls for my attention.

I knew I would get in trouble for this later, but I did not care. My family was coming apart at the seams after all the effort I had put in to hold it together and bring it back. I took out the letter written by the Sandaime and carefully reread everything.

_Dear Tsukiko,_

_This letter holds the truth to your heritage of the Uchiha clan. You must never reveal any of this to anybody under any circumstances. Your mother had asked me not to tell you, but I cannot keep this promise because I believe everyone has a right to know their parents._

_Your father was Uchiha Fugaku, the same father of Itachi and Sasuke. I'm sure that you had been found any sooner, you would have been the one to carry Itachi's burden. The Sharingan is a special ability carried by the Uchiha and was used by Uchiha Madara to control the Kyuubi._

_So when the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago, the elders grew worried that an Uchiha was behind the attack. They began to isolate the Uchiha from the rest of the village and began to spy on the Uchiha. Eventually, that fear became a reality and the Uchiha planned to rebel (your father was the leader of the plan), and your brother, Itachi, was chosen as a spy._

_However, your brother did not want to start a war. So he became a double agent. Things began to escalate fast. I tried my best to reach a truce with the Uchiha clan, but in the end I had to order your brother to kill the entire clan. I shall live with that regret for all eternity._

_Now you have the proof to set Itachi free from his burden and save Sasuke from the dark path he leads. I'm hoping you and the ones of your generation can set the things that your ancestors have done right. You have the power._

_With love,_

_Sarutobi_

I felt something wet roll down my face as I could hear Itachi's voice ringing in my ears. "_Why?! Why?! Why do you try so hard for someone you don't even know?! For someone who murdered everyone in his family?! Why?!"_

_Because I'm your sister!_

"That's the letter from the Sandaime, isn't it?" spoke a familiar voice. Kakashi and I stood at the gate. He summoned his dogs to find Sasuke and Naruto's scents.

"Yes, it is," I replied solemnly. He did not look at me.

"So what's the real reason you let Itachi get away that time?" he asked. "Asuma said that you never answered the question so I want to know, and don't think for a minute that you can evade the question. Why did you let Itachi go?"

"I-" The tears began to flow more forcefully when we heard the howl of one of Kakashi's dogs. I took off in that direction with Kakashi following close behind.

"You?"

"I can't tell you," I said avoiding his gaze.

"I have to know," he said.

"Why?

"So I can understand you! Itachi destroyed the family you could have had, but you share no ill feelings for him?"

"No, I care for him like I would a brother!" I cried.

"Why?"

"Because he is! He's my brother, so is Sasuke! I want to save them both. I never had siblings growing up! I want to have brothers who pick on each other. I want to be the one who pulls them apart when things get out of hand. I want to be a big sister to them. I'm sure Itachi wants to be a big brother to Sasuke as well!"

"_Well said! Well said!"_

_Phoenix!_

"_Quick if you hurry, you will find them at the Valley of the End!"_

* * *

We were too late. Sasuke was gone. Naruto lay on the ground unconscious. I felt tears well up into my eyes and my feet come to a complete stop as I watch Kakashi pick up him up. The cold rain stabbed at my skin like needles. I could hear the very earth beneath my feet cry out for the Phoenix's chosen one.

_Sasuke..._

"So Sasuke is your brother, huh?" said Kakashi. "It probably would have been a good idea to tell him you were his sister." I looked down at the boy cradled in Kakashi's arms. The headband on the ground had a deep scratch running through it.

"I'll take him," he said. I just nodded dumbly staring at the headband. Kakashi adjusted himself so that Naruto was on his back. He looked back at me. "You coming?"

"I'll be right behind you," I said. He nodded and left me there. I stared at that head band for I don't know how long. My blood was boiling, and I didn't understand what was going on. Sasuke and I didn't get along, but we were still family.

My head was spinning and the world around me was crumbling around me. I had no idea that it was doing this literally. My focus remained on the metal plate with the Konoha insignia carved into it with a slash running diagonally through. It was symbolic of many things, Sasuke's betrayal of the leaf village, the idea of Sasuke becoming like his older brother, and the power Naruto wields, power that could change Konoha or utterly destroy it.

I heard Sasuke's voice inside my head. Phoenix had reached out to his mind so I could hear his thoughts.

_I will not be your puppet._

My eyes widened both my Sharingan and Byakugan fully activated to their max. I threw my head back and let my rage and hate blast forth out of my mouth with one powerful mighty shriek. The Phoenix's fiery blaze engulfed my body as I felt her power coursing through my veins, but it wasn't her who was pushing out all this power. This was the power she had given me willingly and it was all being pushed out by something even greater, my own full fledged power. The flames turned green and took an unusual shape and my shriek was overpowered by a roar that seemed to shatter the heavens and cause the earth to tremble. After thousands of years of sleep, my power the power of the dragon was fully realized. My eyes were no longer back and white, they were as red as blood. Both of my eyes could activate either the Byakugan or the Sharingan if I so preferred, or both.

My hair removed the blue tint in its black depths and instead held a green light to it. My features were sharper and more defined, and my muscles were fully developed.

My roar finally died down as did the light that had enveloped me. The world around me had come to life. I was going to bring both Itachi and Sasuke back even if I had to beat the living crap out of both of them to do it!

* * *

I sat on the edge of Naruto's bed watching breathe steadily. I had snuck in against Tsunade's wishes. She had been surprised at my change, but I was still the fun loving person they all knew. My new eyes were nothing to be afraid of.

Naruto stirred and opened his eyes quietly.

"Welcome to the world of the living," I said jokingly. Naruto's eyes did not brighten up at the sound of my voice. This was all Sasuke's doing. "Hey, where's that fun loving boy I know and love?" I asked. "Don't you worry too much about Sasuke. We'll get my brother back." Naruto shot up out of bed. I watched him wince, so he must have felt some pain.

"Your brother?" he exclaimed then he noticed my eyes. "Tsuki-chan, your eyes!"

"Yeah, Sandaime told me," I said. "Sasuke and Itachi are my brothers and I want to save them both."

"But Itachi-!" I cut him off.

"When you're older I'll explain what happened, but for now, get rested up."

"Well, well, you're awake." Naruto and I turned to the source of the voice.

"Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru quickly explained to us the condition of the other three boys and Akamaru. I smiled, relieved to hear that no one was dead or dying. Another reason to be mad at my younger brother.

"So everyone's okay?" said Naruto. "Good."

"So Sasuke..."

"Yeah..." sighed Naruto. I looked away from both of them.

"He got away." At that moment Sakura and Tsunade stepped into the room. I watched the look on Sakura's face. She seemed a little surprised at what Sasuke had done to Naruto.

"I heard that you were severely wounded, but you're fine now," said Tsunade. She looked at me and glared. "How long have you been here?"

I shrugged. Tsunade held her glare until she finally turned away.

"Sakura-chan," said Naruto. "I'm sorry."

"Why're you apologizing?" asked Sakura. "You look really weird, just like a mummy."

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan," he said again. "I..."

"Hey, it's a beautiful day out, let's have the curtains open," she said in a forcefully cheerful voice.

"Sakura-chan, I... I'll definitely keep my promise!" cried Naruto. "I said that it was a promise of a lifetime."

"It's all right, Naruto," she said.

"Always... like I said... I won't go back on my word, because that's my ninja way!" Naruto said with that stupid grin of his stretching across his face.

"Then it's settled," I said. "We'll try again someday." Naruto seemed surprised, like he had forgotten I was in the room. I suppose that crush he had on me was gone. I was kind of glad since I didn't want to have to break it to him.

"Naruto, I'm sorry, you'll have to wait for me," said Sakura as she turned to leave the room. "Next time, we'll do it together."

* * *

I was still in the room when night fell, or started to fall anyway. I had managed to avoid the nurses and other medics. Naruto and I had been silent the entire time, not daring to speak. Naruto had mentioned earlier how he had thought of Sasuke as a brother. I had looked at him and smiled.

"Then perhaps we should rename you Uchiha Naruto!" I was joking sort of, but I really liked the idea of Naruto becoming part of my family. I didn't want to be the only one in my family with a sense of humor. Itachi and Sasuke really didn't seem to be the type to crack a joke or pull pranks and that's no fun!

Suddenly there was a huge crash outside. Both of us shot to the window to see who it was only to find a giant toad's eye staring at us. I shrieked, and backed off, not what I was expecting really.

"Jiraiya, I like making an entrance as much as the next person, but do you think you could tone it down next time," I said, but I was readily ignored.

"I came to talk to you about an important matter," Jiraiya said to Naruto. "From now on, you're officially my apprentice. I will train you one-on-one for three years."

I noticed how it seemed that everyone was about to take a two to three year break. Orochimaru, Akatsuki, Naruto and Jiraiya. It was all really strange. When Naruto agreed to go with him, I finally spoke up again.

"Well, if you all are going to go, I might as well and ask Tsunade let me go and train outside the village, I need to get used to my new found abilities." Again, Naruto looked at me like he had forgotten I was even there. "You know, I get the feeling you wouldn't miss me if I left!" I nudged him playfully. "Don't you worry about anything." I turned to Jiraiya. "We'll get Sasuke back!"

* * *

I swallowed aloud before knocking on the door to the Hokage's office. At first, there was no answer so I knocked on the door before I heard something muffled on the other side. I took that as the invite inside.

Tsunade looked at me through weary eyes. She had been asleep. Shizune was going to have a fit over that.

"Ah, Uchiha Tsukiko right?" she said. I nodded.

"Hokage-sama," I addressed her. "I need to talk to you about Phoenix."

"What is it?"

"I told you about her and what she's done and my new powers, but I wanted to ask you if I could leave the village to train for a couple years."

She stared at me for a moment then let out a sigh. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"I need to adjust to these abilities. Phoenix can teach me how to use them, but I need time."

"Will you be ready in three years?"

"I should be."

"Fine then, but I'm only giving you three years. If you're not back before then, I'm sending ANBU after you."

I nodded. "Don't worry. I'll be back. If I'm lucky, so will Sasuke." I left the building and passed Kakashi on my way out.

"I'll see you in three years," I said. He stopped and turned to me, no emotion visible on his face.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"I'm going to go train for the next three years."

"Well, good luck." We both stood there silently as if waiting for something. I don't know why, but I felt this uncontrollable desire to throw my arms around him. I held myself back at first.

"Hey, thanks for what you did earlier." He just stared at me. "I needed to get that off my chest. It was beginning to seem like everything about me was meant to be a secret. It feels good to know that someone else knows other then me."

He just nodded and turned slowly away.

"Your welcome," he said as he walked away. I finally couldn't take it anymore and hugged him from behind.

"See ya!" With that I left to go pack.

* * *

There was a knock on my door. I stood up and opened to find Hinata fidgeting under my gaze.

"Hey, Hinata, what's up?"

"I-I just w-wanted to say g-good-bye before y-you left," she stuttered. I felt a smile tug on my lips.

"Hey, thanks, and when I get back, I want you to be strong enough to take on Neji, okay?" She smiled sweetly

"Yes."

"All right!" I said as I threw my pack over my shoulder and patted her back. I left the Hyuuga estate but not without saluting Hiashi on my way out. He just rolled his eyes at me and went on his way.

"We'll miss you," he whispered before passing me.

"Right," I said sarcastically. "I'm sure that as soon as I'm gone you're going to be partying the whole time." He didn't respond and I didn't expect him to.

I soon found myself at the northern gate of Konoha. I turned to look at the four faces that watched over the village. I immediately thought of Naruto and smiled. One day his face was going to be up there, and I would be the one to help him get there.

Naruto and Jiraiya were soon there to join me. We walked together talking until we came to the fork in the road. One way lead Northeast, the other, Northwest. Naruto stopped and looked at me.

"Well," I said. "This is where we part ways." Naruto looked away for a moment.

"We'll see each other again soon, right?" he said. I smiled and nodded.

"You bet Naruto," I grinned. "You think you're going to be able to bring Sasuke back by yourself again?! Hah! Not without my help you're not!"

Naruto grinned back and left with Jiraiya. With that, we parted ways. The next time we would meet we would both be stronger. Train hard, Naruto. Train hard.

* * *

**The sequel to this will be coming up soon (Not sure how soon but we'll see.) I know you all are freakin' out goin' "WTF?" But I have A.D.D. ...really bad... so it's kind of dangerous for me to even write a story on here because I'll get bored really quick and I'll add to the long list of unfinished stories. Seriously, I have like ten stories on my computer that I will probably never finish. Those of you who want me to keep going... you might have to send me PM every week. Tell me how great it is and to get the sequel up fast. Perhaps you can be my beta reader.**

**Sorry, I love you guys and I'll see you as soon as I can get that story written. I have some others I'm thinking about. Check it out and tell me which one your most interested in... other then the sequel to this.**

**See you soon! Review please!**


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